How to Be a Good Roommate

With rent in New York City being the second-highest in the country, many young people will have to find a roommate to share an apartment with. Being a good roommate is an important life skill for most people living in the city. Having a roommate is an excellent way to make living in New York City possible for people with all different types of lifestyles and economic situations. Follow these tips to be the best roommate you can be and to keep the stress as low as possible when sharing a living space.

Set Expectations Ahead of Time

Are you the type of person who is neat, but doesn’t have time to be absolutely spotless? Or are you a neat freak? Discussing what you expect of your roommate is an extremely important first step. Setting up a roommate agreement can help you guys have realistic expectations regarding use of common areas, cleaning responsibilities, and noise past a certain hour.

Divide Responsibilities

Make a schedule ahead of time on who will do what chores when. If you need the common area vacuumed every Sunday, make a calendar so that you don’t need to remind your roomie of their chores. Splitting up responsibilities is another way of setting expectations ahead of time. You’ll be able to have a clean apartment without having to argue first.

Learn to Compromise

One of the best skills you can have in life is learning how to compromise. It is important to choose your battles. There will be times when your roommate does things that you don’t like. It is important to choose what things you’re willing to let go and what you will choose to take a stand on. Don’t micromanage and don’t let yourself get taken advantage of: find an effective balance.

Take Your Pride and Put It Aside

Who cares about winning an argument? Sometimes you need to just be an adult, take the high road and suck up your pride to get along. Is your roommate acting childish about something? If you have a blowout argument, you will both dig your heels in and delay a resolution. Taking the high road can make them realize how they’re acting and apologize.

Communicate

Communication is essential for any good relationship to work, whether it is a friendship, business partnership, romantic relationship, or roommate scenario. This means having more uncomfortable conversations more often to avoid letting issues get swept under the rug until one of you explodes. A good rule of thumb for communication: two ears, one mouth. Be quick to listen and slow to speak and respond.

Be Independent

It’s important that you each give each other plenty of alone time, even if you’re in the same room. Give each other space and privacy, otherwise you might create unnecessary friction from being in each other’s faces too much. Don’t force a friendship into the mix, let the relationship be what it will be. Sometimes, the best roommates don’t make the best friends, and vice versa. Be open to doing things with your roommate but don’t expect that they will want to do everything with you.

Follow the ‘Golden Rule’

At the end of the day, being a good roommate is all about treating your roommate how you would like to be treated. Understand that everybody has nuances and react differently to different situations, so try to be considerate of your roommate’s unique nuances and point of view when following the ‘Golden Rule.’

Hire Professional Movers

Don’t start off on the wrong foot at your new place. You should be focused on how you’re going to make things work with the new roommate, and how you’ll have things arranged so that it works for the both of you. Don’t get bogged down on move-in day by a bunch of heavy lifting. Let us help you move-in, so that you can focus on starting this new adventure off on the right foot. We have gained a reputation as being one of New York’s most courteous, effective professional moving services. Get a quote today to see why Metropolis Moving is one of the most trusted solutions in the City for moves of all sizes and scopes.

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